41100 – Buying a Property

Buying a property in Australia follows a broadly consistent sequence of steps regardless of who is buying — researching and finding a property, arranging finance, making an offer, conveyancing, and settlement — but what’s actually different, and often more consequential, depends on the kind of buyer making the purchase. A first home buyer navigates federal and state assistance schemes that don’t apply to anyone else. Someone upgrading manages two linked transactions instead of one. A downsizer has a superannuation contribution scheme built specifically around their situation. Buyers purchasing together face ownership-structure decisions a solo buyer never encounters.

This section is organised around both of those dimensions. The transaction-step guides below cover the mechanics that apply to any purchase; the life-stage guides cover what’s genuinely different for first home buyers, upgraders, downsizers, and co-buyers. Each guide cross-references the others where the two dimensions intersect, so a reader can follow either path — starting from where they are in the process, or starting from what kind of buyer they are — without duplication.